It is a far cry from last month’s farcical hassles in the Melbourne Airport, when officials told Assange his passport was being confiscated because it “looked a bit warn,” apparently in retaliation for WikiLeaks releasing a list of websites banned is Australia, a list which is itself apparently banned by the Australian government.

watching 15 detainees taken by the IraqiFederal Police… for printing “anti-Iraqi literature”… the iraqi federal police wouldn’t cooperate with US forces, so i was instructed to investigate the matter, find out who the “bad guys” were, and how significant this was for the FPs… it turned out, they had printed a scholarly critique against PM Maliki… i had an interpreter read it for me… and when i found out that it was a benign political critique titled “Where did the money go?” and following the corruption trail within the PM’s cabinet… i immediately took that information and ran to the officer to explain what was going on… he didn’t want to hear any of it… he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding MORE detainees…

Manning’s story is much the same as many other government employees turned whistleblowers, but his youth and the sensational nature of the Pentagon and State Department allegations have led to his portrayal in the media and in official statements as a “despondent” loner, a misfit who leaked classified data en masse as some sort of cry for attention. It also paints WikiLeaks into the corner of the mean-spirited villain, taking advantage of a misguided youth.

But while this does a disservice to Manning and certainly to WikiLeaks, it has also turned Assange from a thorn in the side of governments around the world, someone to be railed against and maybe harassed at the occasional airport to full-fledged “threat to national security,” complete with the requisite Pentagon moves to “locate” him and prevent the leak of God only knows what.

Exactly what would happen if Assange is “located” or captured is anyone’s guess. Officials expressed hope that he would be found in the US, as that might provide them with some sort of legal basis for whatever it is they plan to do to him.

And that may be the real story here, above and beyond the potential damage to America’s image abroad that might be done if some particularly embarrassing diplomatic cables come to light, the question of a global free press is very much on the table, with fears that Assange could be liquidated for the protection of the administration, or simply as a warning to future whistleblowers that attempts to reveal the seedy underbelly of America’s overseas adventures is a de facto capital offense, though of course one without any legal basis.

Assange’s personal safety is needless to say a very important issue, but it goes far beyond a mere threat against one man and looms as a threat against all of us, if and when the Pentagon takes action to cement the notion that the American public has no “right to know” when the Defense Department, the State Department, or anyone else is engaged in unsavory and potentially illegal behavior.

The service provided by WikiLeaks is particularly vital in an era of perpetual war. One can only hope they will be able to continue in the face of Pentagon actions.

Agreed. The press in this country is simply a mouth piece for government propaganda. It imagines itself as some sort of intellectual white knight when all it really does is willingly volunteer to hold the executioners axe!

The multi-billion dollar media complex in the USA needs to start investigating important things instead of wasting resources, people, and energy. In order to get an idea of how much inefficient waste there is in the billion dollar media complex, just look at how much it costs to run wikileaks, or even alternative organizations like antiwar here or democracynow.org. The mainstream media is a waste of money and all they can come up with in this important case with Stanley Manning is that he’s “despondent”. Seriously, that’s the best their billions of dollars can come up with? Is this the word that’s going to eventually show up in a Daily Show clip where all the different networks use the exact same words?

I sent Wikileaks a donation for the fight against fascism around the world. I can't do anything about the war-mongering, power-crazy lunatics running the US government but I can at least cast my vote for peace and democracy in some small way.
Ann

O.K. folks, here comes a teachable moment….. If Julian Assange is ACCUSED of breaking U.S. law, maybe the U.S. can extradite him from say Australia for breaking U.S. law.. Remember the Muslim Clerics the U.S. was (is?) trying to deport from England for “terror charges” Abu ‘Hamza, 49, is serving a seven-year prison sentence at Woolwich, southeast London, for inciting murder and race hate.
“Inciting race hate”..?? What does that mean..??
If the U.S. can demand extradition of non U.S. citizens for offences against U.S. law, why can’t other countries demand the extradition of U.S. war criminals..?? Ones who have committed crimes which violate THEIR laws, ones against “humanity” and or their “citizens”

I wonder if Mr Assange is 'detained' by the Pentagon if he will be subjected to 'enhanced' interrogation techniques. I suppose it is just a matter of drumming up enough misinformation in the media to paint him as a 'credible threat to national security.' No real evidence or legal basis required. Pardon me for being so cynical, but is this what 'truth, justice, freedom and the American way' has become? As time goes by the policies seem more and more repressive and anti-democratic and more and more like something dreamt up by George Orwell.

Kudos to the whistleblower! Keeping defense information confidential is one thing, but when the defense department becomes immoral, it is time to rethink security (for it is no longer security in defense of the nation), and expose the malice..

Necessary? Necessary for what exactly? You should probably read 'War is the Health of the State' or 'War is a Racket' and then we will talk about just how necessary war is and who it is that benefits from wars. You might be surprised that 'we the people' aren't at the top of the list of beneficiaries even though we're the ones that do most of the bleeding and the dying.

Slavishly following orders, killing and maiming and razing just as you're told, whenever you're told . . . . offering your unthinking flesh to leviathan so that it might grow in power and plunge your fellow citizens deeper into the depths of serfdom . . . yep, it all sounds "necessary" to me.

And don't forget: it gives your life meaning! Yes, even YOU can kill AND die for Leviathan! You can be a part of something bigger than your impotent little self! Die killing for the state and you'll undergo a veritable apotheosis: a box, a flag, some trinkets for your folks and even gratis embalming! And they'll call you a hero! Oh, the obsequies will be memorable and every Memorial Day your machine polished slab will be bedecked with the finest plastic posies a depreciating dollar can buy! Huzzah! Hurrah! Uncle Sam wants YOU—body, mind and soul! Don't think! Kill for him! Die for him! Become ONE with him! NOW!

And how dare any "pencil neck computer geek" stand in the way of an experience so "necessary" and transcendental! Real freedom-God-bless-our-troops-amen is for those who do as they're told by Mr. President! Real freedom is for those who kill those "terrorists" (for so are they all in high-explosive-induced death) in far impoverished lands! A "free press" is for the weak! "Truth" is for the weak! "Civil rights" are for the weak! "Due process" is for the weak! "Liberty" is for the weak! "Thinking" is for the weak! Killing is for the strong and truly free! Kill the traitors! Kill the terrorists! Kill the free press! Kill your minds! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Ah, Bourne and Butler (with a name like Smedley? c'mon!) were probably just "pencil neck geeks." They didn't understand the glory and the majesty of war. And besides, REEL Amurikan pay-tree-8s dont reed, aight?

Well, I guess we know why we're not seeing the Garani video and those leaked diplomatic cables . . . It's obvious that the Wikileaks folks fear for their lives, and with good reason. A government that will openly assassinate its own citizens is capable of just about anything. I daresay our own corrupt rulers are not all that far behind their stark raving masters in Tel Aviv in the running for title of "Most Dangerously Batsh*t Nuclear-Armed State."

I'm praying that the materials get "outed" simultaneously around the world and with great fanfare. We once had the pentagon papers, back in the day, so lets get on with it. The only protection these people have is in actually doing the deed. Any extended silence on their part will only bring them eternal silence courtesy of big brother.

[…] AntiWar.com writes “Assange was still in Australia as of last week, when he failed to attend a New York conference on the advice of his lawyer. Where he is since then is anyone’s guess, but the military seems to be feverishly trying to find out.” […]

Given that the Obama regime has assumed the power to assassinate whomever it chooses in its ridiculous "war on terror," don't think for a moment that they won't arrange for Mr. Assange to experience an "accident" in the near future, provided they can locate him. Anyone threatening to undermine Heir Barack's Glorious Reich had better watch his back.

It is a sad and and morally repugnant situation in the West. Wherein in most media are in pocket of big businesses. It even gets worse when people with conscience object to laws that are passed not for the benefit of their citizens but to placate corruption and illegal activities.

We are preaching world of good governance, freedom of speech and freedom to expose the corrupt rulers, we ourselves practice what Mugabe is doing to his country.

So well done Wikileaks. I hope and pray to God that, truth will prevail.

The new Obama policies of taking out American citizens here or abroad makes one wonder if they envisage using drones, and where, or just disappearing people, a method used so widely in South America by other presidents.
We ressemble the "Portrait of Dorian Gray," our ugly secrets locked away in dark attics.

Interesting how the first thing the military types always go after is freedom.

In this bizarre time, the reason we are told that freedom can't be tolerated is that we have to defend our freedom.

America is supposed to be a democracy. Democracy means power rests with the people. But, when the truth about what is going on is hidden from the people, then the power of the people is taken from them.

For all their talk of defending democracy and freedom, our military is destroying both.

The government can declare any organization a 'terrorist' organization. There doesn't seem to be anyway to challenge that. Then they can go back and look at who's been giving money to the 'terrorists', and go after them, even though the organization wasn't designated a terrorist group until later. Now, you are a supporter and funder of terrorists. Currently they can just hold you in a secret navy brig until you die of old age. But Sen. Lieberman wants the government to immediately strip you of your citiizenship and dump into some place like Bagram prison in Afghanistan.

You should have known better than to dare to oppose your government in this land of freedom and democracy. Dat is verbotten! There are kamps for people live vu!

Fascinating in that this was actually Bush's policy. He was killing American citizens with drone missiles back in '01 and '02.

What's fun to watch is how the right tries to ignore it when its one of there's and then try to call it Obama's policy when he just continues the same old same old. Of course, on the other side there are all of those who thought that the nation was doomed when Bush was killing and detaining Americans, but who now are silent and seem to have forgotten about it now that Obama's the president.

American president's have had the power to kill American citizens for a long time now. And nothing about this changes as we switch from Democrat to Republican. The only thing that changes is that half the choir gets silent when their guy gets in, while the other half suddenly finds their voice after being silent for eight years.

Actually, to be clear, wholly owned by big business would be a better description. Very few media outlets are independently owned. Instead, they are a part of larger businesses. Which means the director of the media outlet jumps when their boss says so. Just like anyone else with their boss.

This comment sounds like someone still things the media is independent and failing to do its job. Instead, the media is exactly doing their job and doing it exactly as their boss tells them to do it.

Interestingly, it was the NY Times forty years ago that was one of the papers publishing the Pentagon Papers. That sure wouldn't happen today.

But then again, with websites and the internet, we don't need it any more. Now we publish ourselves. The best safety for these guys is to get as much of this material up online in as many places as possible and as soon as possible.